Mongrel is a female fronted aggressive rock band based from the Boston, MA area. Consisting of Adam Savage on guitar, Jessica Sierra on vocals, Michael Ariza on bass, and Mike "Hoagie" Hogan on drums. Their sound is predominately metal, but has a hint of punk and good old fashioned rock that polishes a bit of the edge off, this otherwise aggressive sound. I have a couple of their earlier releases and can honestly say that they still appear regularly in my personal playlists. I've seen it debated often whether they are more metal than punk, more punk than metal or more rock than either. Truth is, when they make music this damn good, what the fuck does it matter what label you slap on it? These kids have been dubbed the hardest working band in Boston, in Massachusetts, in all of New England, they've won countless awards back to back and it's easy to see (hear) why. Hell we dug these guys so much we featured their track Declamation on our first compilation back in 2011. Their 2012 release Reclamation was a 12 track masterpiece and now that I'm sitting here listening to Evolution, I am simply blown away - These kids outdid themselves by miles. So say that they saw what they wanted and reached out and took it is an understatement. The production quality on Evolution is amazingly good. It was recorded by Jim Foster, mixed by Dave Fortman, and mastered by Howie Weinberg. These guys don't work with just anybody, they work with real talent.Jessica's vocals range from angry to haunting throughout this release while maintaining that ultra sexy feminine rasp that I dig so much. Adam can really rock that guitar and make it do anything he damn well wants it to do while Michael and Mike hold it all in place on bass and drums.
Go ahead and preview the first track Snakes - while I tell you how good the rest of the album is.
Track 2 Oxygen Mask pretty much sums up how indefinite things are. "Uncertainty's forever, not diamond rings" this is a great song with a great message - at least what I took from it - live for today, reach for your goals, don't let a damn thing stop you. - I might be off the mark - but I'm a firm believer that all lyrics are subjective and mean what the listener perceives them to mean.
Track 3 Consumed has a nice quick pace to it, the guitars pretty much gallop along and Jessica's vocals really shine out on this one.
Tracks 4 and 5 Best Revenge and Over and Over are to me where Mongrels Punk/Metal hybridization really steps up front and center -
All in all this is a great fucking album. It hits all the right spots and can easily be set on repeat for a few hours without getting boring or sounding like you're just listening to the same album over and over. It's easy to slip into this one. Big props to these kids and congratulations to them for signing with Unable Records.
Be looking out for this album or suffer the panic that may set in when you realize it's too late to get a copy.
here's where you can find out more about this bad ass band and their unique sound.
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